Dong'e Cao Temple (Mount Tai Palace)

Dong'e Cao Temple (Mount Tai Palace)

Dong'e Cao Temple (Mount Tai Palace) is a cultural relic protection unit of Shandong Province.

Dong'e Cao Temple (Mount Tai Palace) is located in Cao Temple Village, Shan Zhuang Township, Dong'e County, commonly known as "Mount Tai Palace," and is now a key cultural relics protection unit of Liaocheng City.

The temple was first built in the 57th year of the Kangxi reign during the Qing Dynasty (1718), constructed by local villagers—primarily the Cao family along with residents from other surnames in neighboring villages—who modeled it after the Dai Temple in Tai'an. The temple is a quadrangle courtyard structure, facing south with the back to the north, measuring 37 meters in length from north to south and 22 meters in width from east to west. It features a brick-and-wood structure, comprising 12 rooms in total, including the main hall, corridor gate, screen wall, east and west wing rooms, and a bell tower. Official halls are built on both the east and west sides of the courtyard. The main hall to the north is the principal building of the palace, featuring a small-tiled flush-gable roof. The hall is three bays wide and one bay deep, with a single-eave front porch, covered with glazed tiles. Four carved stone pillars featuring cloud-dragon reliefs stand under the open corridor, and the hall enshrines the Goddess Bixia Yuanjun.